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Effects of unilateral dominance of the lower limbs on flexibility and isokinetic performance in healthy females

INTRODUCTION: The unilateral dominance of the lower limbs can cause asymmetries between the contralateral muscle groups, predisposing both legs to possible injury. Thus, knowledge of unilateral deficits is important in the prevention and outcomes. OBJECTIVE: To assess the difference of daily activities on the dominant (DL) and non-dominant (NDL) limb as flexibility, peak torque (PT), maximum work (MW), maximum power (MP) for flexors and extensors of the knee. METHOD: 23 healthy women without symptoms. Flexibility was assessed using the popliteal angle test (PAT) for hamstring and Thomas test (TT) for quadriceps, the isokinetic assessment was carried out for the concentric extension and flexion of the knee. For the PT and MW were performed five repetitions at an angular velocity of 60o/sec, and for MP, 15 repetitions at 240o/sec. All evaluations were performed by the same researcher. RESULTS: No statistically significant difference as the bilateral flexibility through the TAP and TT (p > 0.05). However, all the isokinetic variables were assessed with a significant difference between the DL and NDL (p < 0.01), with an average of limb symmetry index exceeding 10%. CONCLUSION: According to the data, the daily activities in healthy women cause differences between the DL and NDL, as evidenced by the isokinetic evaluation as to the PT, MW and MP; however, these differences were not viewed as flexibility.

Range of motion; Employee performance appraisal; Lower extremity


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